Upcoming mission to Jupiter images the planet’s moons from here on Earth
An upcoming mission to Jupiter's moons from the European Space Agency, called the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, hasn't even left Earth yet but has already imaged its target of the Jupiter system. The image shows Jupiter surrounded by some of its moons: Europa, Ganymede, Io, and Callisto.
Massive neutron stars smash together, forging gold in an explosive kilonova
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory detects gravitational waves by looking at the collisions of black holes and other cosmic bodies, such as the first observed merger between two neutron stars in 2017. Now, a team of astronomers has observed what happens during these epic impacts.
European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover is constructed and ready to explore
NASA's Mars 2020 mission isn't the only the rover headed to the red planet -- the ESA also has the ExoMars project. Recently, construction was completed on the ExoMars rover and soon it will be ready for launch next year. The aim is to discover more about the history of water on the planet.
Jupiter’s recently discovered moons have been named by the public
Last year, researchers from the Carnegie Institution for Science announced they had discovered 12 new moons in orbit around Jupiter. In order to name these newly-discovered bodies Carnegie Science turned to the public for suggestions, and now it has announced the new names for five of the moons.
International Space Station communications get an upgrade, doubling data rate
Components of the Space Network have been upgraded to double the rate at which data can be sent from the ISS back to Earth, allowing faster transfer of scientific information. The new 600 megabits per second (Mbps) connection will help with human spaceflight missions as well as scientific research.
China’s Chang’e 4 lander finds gel-like substance on the far side of the moon
China's Chang'e 4 mission is currently exploring the lesser-known far side of the moon, which faces away from Earth. Previously it found minerals which may have come from deep beneath the lunar surface, and now it has found something even stranger: An oddly-colored gel-like substance of unknown origin.
Is Pluto a planet? NASA administrator and Brian May reignite the debate
In 2006 the International Astronomical Union caused consternation when it declared that Pluto was no longer a planet. Now, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstein and Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian Many have reignited the debate over Pluto's status by coming out in favor of it being a planet.
Celebrate Spitzer’s 16th birthday with these 16 beautiful space images
The Spitzer Telescope launched 16 years ago, in August 2003. To celebrate its sweet sixteen, NASA has shared 16 of the most beautiful space images captured by this infrared telescope. Here you can see nebulas, galaxies, clusters, and more, captured in infrared light which shows glowing dust features.
Autonomous helicopter joins its rover buddy for Mars 2020 mission
NASA has a bold plan to send not only a rover but also a helicopter to Mars as part of its Mars 2020 mission. The autonomous Mars Helicopter has successfully passed its flight tests and vacuum and deployment tests. Now, it has been attached to the Mars 2020 rover ready for its journey to the red planet.
Japanese probe prepares to return sample of asteroid to Earth
Japan's Hayabusa 2 probe recently touched down on asteroid Ryugu and collected a sample from this rock. Now, the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, has revealed its future plans for the craft, including deploying a lander onto the asteroid and a procedure for returning the collected sample to Earth.
NASA scientists travel Down Under to simulate the environment of Mars
How do you practice for a mission to Mars? The NASA Mars 2020 team joined European and Russian colleagues from the ExoMars mission to perform experiments in the Australian outback. The outback is a useful simulation of the Martian environment due to its high temperatures, low humidity, and remoteness.
Time spent in space affects connectivity of astronauts’ brains, new study shows
We already know that spending time in space has effects on the body, and recent evidence suggests it could have an effect on the mind as well. Now, scientists have used magnetic resonance imaging to look at how astronauts' brains changed after they adapted to an environment without gravity.
Time spent on smartphones isn’t damaging teens’ mental health, study shows
In the last decade, many commentators have expressed concern over how much time young people, in particular, spend using technology and its potential effects on mental health. A new study investigated this issue and spoiler alert: The researchers didn't find a link between technology use and mental health.
Scientists develop implant to restore sight by stimulating the optic nerve
Blindness is difficult to treat, in part because it can be caused by so many different issues in the eye, the brain, or the optic nerve which connects the two. Now, scientists have developed a technology to directly stimulate the optic nerve, which could be used to restore people's sight in the future.
Uncrewed Russian craft fails to dock with ISS, will make second attempt tomorrow
An uncrewed Russian spacecraft had issues docking with the International Space Station. As the craft approached the ISS at 1:36 a.m. on Saturday, the Russian team overseeing the maneuver decided to abort the docking. The craft is still in orbit and will make a second attempt at docking on Monday night.
Spitzer studies hellish planet with surface temperature of thousands of degrees
Astronomers have examined a planet that can only be described as a rocky hellscape: Heat of thousands of degrees, lava on the surface, and almost no atmosphere. Using the Spitzer telescope, a team was able to take a look at the close-up conditions of planet LHS 3844b, located 48.6 light-years away.
Scientists find evidence of ancient supernova activity in Antarctic snow
We are made of starstuff, Carl Sagan once said, and new findings from Antarctica show that to be literally true in some cases. A rare isotope of iron, called iron-60, is formed only when a star explodes in a supernova. And recently, scientists found traces of iron-60 in fresh snow in Antarctica.
Storms on Jupiter throw up ammonia from deep inside its atmosphere
Jupiter is famous for its epic storms and beautiful cloud formations which give it is distinctive striped appearance. However, these clouds make it difficult for astronomers to see what lies in the atmosphere beneath. Now, a team of astronomers has peered deep into the planet's atmosphere.
Huge supernova unlike any discovered before illuminates deaths of earliest stars
Scientists have discovered the most massive star ever destroyed by a supernova - SN 2016iet, which occurred in a dwarf galaxy located 900 million light-years away. It is noteworthy because it represents what supernova events of the largest stars would look like, even the earliest stars in the universe.
Hubble captures the glowing aftermath of the death of a star
The latest object captured by the Hubble Telescope is a planetary nebula called NGC 2371/2, located in the constellation of Gemini. It has an unusual name because of its unusual shape - when astronomers first studied the nebula, they thought it was two different structures named NGC 2371 and NGC 2372.
Parker Solar Probe makes a second orbit of the sun, captures solar wind on video
The Parker Solar Probe, launched last year, has completed its second orbit around the sun. To celebrate, the team has released a video from one of the instruments, the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe, which has captured the solar wind in action as the structures stream out from the Sun.
Hubble captures a beautiful cosmic jellyfish made of glowing gas
A new image from Hubble might look like a deep-space jellyfish, but it's not a sign of extraterrestrial life -- in fact, it's a planetary nebula called NGC 2022, located in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter). A planetary nebula is made of ionized gas which glows and creates an expanding shell.
NASA’s satellite projects will study the sun using solar sailing
Small satellites can be used for anything from collecting images of Earth to exploring the Solar System. NASA has been searching for ideas to push ahead the capabilities of the hardware, and now the agency has announced two new projects to demonstrate the potential of small satellites.
SpaceIL’s crashed lander may have sent thousands of tardigrades to the moon
When the SpaceIL craft Beresheet crashed into the moon earlier this year, it left more than just an impact mark. Part of the lander's payload was a lunar library, about the size of a DVD case, which included an archive of human history. And there were thousands of tardigrades along for the ride too.
The black hole at the center of our galaxy is flaring and no one knows why
At the heart of our galaxy lies a supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*. Normally this giant monster is relatively docile, but recently it's been a hotbed of unexpected activity. Astronomers have noticed it emitting bright flares of energy, rapidly glowing 75 times brighter than normal.
NASA wants to send two more missions to Mars to collect rock samples
With its Mars 2020 mission, NASA hopes to collect samples from the surface of the planet when it launches next year. The challenge is how to get those samples back to Earth. Now, NASA has revealed its plans for two followup missions to Mars which would collect the sample and bring it home.
NASA selects landing site candidates for OSIRIS-Rex to sample asteroid Bennu
Last year, the OSIRIS-REx craft arrived at asteroid Bennu and imaged it, beginning the process of selecting a site from which to collect a sample from the asteroid to be brought back to Earth. Now, the NASA team has selected four potential sites to choose from for the sampling mission.
Latest Windows 10 update is causing random reboots and can break Visual Basic
The latest update for Windows 10 includes patches against two critical vulnerabilities but is causing a string of issues including random reboots and failure to install. The update was made available on Tuesday this week. However, some users have run into problems when trying to apply the latest update.
Mars 2020 rover now has a rotating array of drill bits for sampling Martian rock
The Mars 2020 is in its final year of engineering before it will be deployed to the red planet next year. With most of its key components ready to go, the next phase of construction was to install the bit carousel, an important mechanism for the gathering and sorting of samples from the Martian surface.
1.5% of Chrome users’ passwords are known to be compromised, according to Google
1.5% of passwords used in Chrome are unsafe and have been released in data breaches, according to new information from Google. In February, the Chrome browser introduced a feature that checks whether users' passwords are secure. Now, Google has released eye-opening stats gathered from Password Checkup.
NASA wants your help developing autonomous robots to explore other worlds
NASA is asking for your help to create the autonomous robots which could one day explore the moon, Mars, and beyond. It has launched the second phase of its Space Robotics Challenge, searching for bright ideas from the public to develop robots to assist future astronauts on long-duration missions.
Dead planets give off ghostly radio waves which we should be able to detect
Dead planets orbiting dead stars can give off ghostly radio wave emissions that can be detected from Earth, allowing us to track planets even after their stars have run out of fuel. Astronomers have proposed we could tune into radio waves given off by cores of exoplanets which orbit around white dwarfs.
The sun shakes the solar system with interplanetary shocks
The sun shakes the solar system by sending out dramatic interplanetary shocks, and NASA has observed these shocks for the first time, using its Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. MMS consists of four spacecraft which have been in orbit around Earth since 2015, moving through our planet's magnetosphere.
Virtual universe machine models galaxies to learn about dark matter
Researchers are discovering new facts about our universe by creating a virtual universe machine that models the way galaxies develop over time. A team from the University of Arizona created a computer simulation of 12 million different galaxies, stretching back 400 million years after the Big Bang.